Z; an interesting if esoteric question to an audiophile. But I think a big part of happiness vs unhappiness does not necessarily have to do with the stereo system per se, but rather with the individuals prevailing state of mind (mood) at the time the ol' big rig is fired up. Atleast this is true for me, and as I have a tendency to be negative, depressive, introspective, obsessive, analytical and realistic, I'm in agreement w/ Drubin, and would go with 50/50-- while recognizing that my dis-satisfaction does not necessarily have to do with my systems performance, but rather with MY performance.
I have about $50K (MSRP) in my big rig and an another $12-14K (MSRP) in a half-assed HT system. When I'm in a good mood, and settle in to listen for awhile, it sounds fantastic and I'm very happy with it. But when in a foul mood, I have a hard time finding anything that sounds good.
But I'll add this: I'm damn glad I have (especially) my main stereo system, and on balance it brings me a great deal of pleasure. And the happiness includes upgrade planning, auditioning, tweaking etc. There certainly are times that I'm disappointed in my system, but I've now gotten to the point that I agree with Audiogon Arnie when he said "I've gotten to the point that I can make a system sound however I want"-- that's a paraphrase, and I hope Arnie doesn't mind me using his observation. I think it's an astute observation by a confident audiophile, and I've thought a lot about it myself.
Beemer makes an excellent point too-- sometimes it's both scary and disappointing when buying new music. But sometimes it's exciting too, and I find that one of the most appealing aspects of this affliction is finding new music that really turns me on. Cheers? and good luck w/this thread. Craig
I have about $50K (MSRP) in my big rig and an another $12-14K (MSRP) in a half-assed HT system. When I'm in a good mood, and settle in to listen for awhile, it sounds fantastic and I'm very happy with it. But when in a foul mood, I have a hard time finding anything that sounds good.
But I'll add this: I'm damn glad I have (especially) my main stereo system, and on balance it brings me a great deal of pleasure. And the happiness includes upgrade planning, auditioning, tweaking etc. There certainly are times that I'm disappointed in my system, but I've now gotten to the point that I agree with Audiogon Arnie when he said "I've gotten to the point that I can make a system sound however I want"-- that's a paraphrase, and I hope Arnie doesn't mind me using his observation. I think it's an astute observation by a confident audiophile, and I've thought a lot about it myself.
Beemer makes an excellent point too-- sometimes it's both scary and disappointing when buying new music. But sometimes it's exciting too, and I find that one of the most appealing aspects of this affliction is finding new music that really turns me on. Cheers? and good luck w/this thread. Craig